The public guarantee that allows young people to buy a house without an initial down payment continues to gain traction. By September, 40.3% of the allocation made available by this scheme had been used, for a total amount of 478 million euros.
Data released this Wednesday by the Bank of Portugal shows that in the first nine months of the year, 17,800 mortgage contracts for primary and permanent housing were signed under the state guarantee scheme, for a total amount of 3.5 billion euros.
These numbers translate into a significant share of the market. "These contracts represented 40.5% of the number of contracts and 42.8% of the total amount contracted, in the same period, by young people up to 35 years old," according to the central bank's statement.

The scale of the measure becomes even more evident when viewed in the overall context of mortgage lending. “Considering the total credit granted up to September by the financial system for the acquisition of primary and permanent housing, contracts with public guarantees represented 22.2% of the number of contracts and 25.3% of the total amount of credit granted,” a proportion that demonstrates how this policy is shaping the national real estate market.

Data from the Bank of Portugal also reveals that September brought a new boost to the demand for public guarantees, noting that 2,400 contracts for primary and permanent housing loans with state guarantees were signed, totaling €497 million. “These contracts represented 47.3% of the contracts and 48.9% of the value contracted by young people up to 35 years old for the same purpose” in the same period, thus exceeding the percentages recorded in previous months.

In relation to August, the number of contracts with state guarantees and the amount contracted increased by 14.6% and 17.7%, respectively, reversing the decline observed in August, when the values ​​had decreased compared to July. This reversal coincides with families returning from summer vacations and the traditional intensification of real estate activity in the autumn months, a pattern that has historically been repeated in the Portuguese market.

Data from the Bank of Portugal also reveals significant regional disparities in the use of public guarantees, with the Alentejo and Lezíria do Tejo regions continuing to concentrate more than half of the mortgage contracts for primary and permanent housing signed by young people with state guarantees, between January and August 2025.
This high penetration of the measure in the interior contrasts with the more expensive urban centers. “In Greater Lisbon and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, contracts under the public guarantee regime represent about a third of the total,” says the Bank of Portugal in a statement.

The regime allows the State to guarantee up to 15% of the transaction value in homes with a maximum value of 450,000 euros, intended for young people between 18 and 35 years old with income that does not exceed the eighth income tax bracket. In practice, this guarantee makes it possible to finance up to 100% of the value of the home, eliminating the need for an initial down payment, a barrier that traditionally prevented many young people from accessing mortgage financing.
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